


Bait

by luckydip



Category: Robin Hood (2018)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 19:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21893686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckydip/pseuds/luckydip
Summary: Rob glances over at his men – they can’t fight their way out against the Sheriff’s soldiers and keep hold of all the grain they have piled up on carts. But if they go home empty handed then they would have risked their lives for nothing and the security in the city stores will be increased. This is their only chance.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Bait

**Author's Note:**

  * For [epicycles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/epicycles/gifts).



> Hi epicycles. I love this film too, ridiculous moments and all. Really hope you enjoy this fic and have a great Yuletide! Thank you to E for the beta.

“They’re coming!” Tuck shouts from his lookout point. 

Dammit. It had been a risky move attacking the city’s food stores, but the Sheriff’s last round of taxes have forced more and more people into Sherwood Forest and they won’t make it through winter with the crops they have. Rob knows that Will would have predicted this, may have even banked on it, but they have people to feed – people who had helped produce the city’s stores before being forced out of their homes.

Rob glances over at his men – they can’t fight their way out against the Sheriff’s soldiers and keep hold of all the grain they have piled up on carts. But if they go home empty-handed, they would have risked their lives for nothing and the security in the city stores will be increased. This is their only chance.

Decision made, he calls out to the group. “Just take what you can carry and run, I’ll hold them off.”

He drops his bag, grabs a spare quiver, and sprints towards the entrance, pulling his bow from his back as he gets into position to fight off the Sheriff’s men.

Tuck runs to his side. “Rob, what are you doing? You can’t take them all on – you won’t win.”

“Thanks for having faith in me.” Rob grins as he lets the first arrow fly. It hits a soldier square in the chest and he goes down.

“I do have faith, but you are one man. One man can’t defeat an army.” Tuck glances behind them at their retreating group. “Come with us.”

Rob shakes his head and takes down another soldier. “They won’t make it unless I give them a head start. This is only worth it if they all go out safe and got the food back to the others.” He uses his loading arm to shove Tuck away. “Now get out of here – run.”

“Rob – ”

“Go!” he snaps and turns back to the advancing men. He aims at one of the riders and lets an arrow loose to snap the saddle in two. The rider falls from his horse with a shout and the horse panics and grinds to a halt blocking the men behind it. Good. Every few seconds he could buy his men increases their changed of making it back into hiding before the soldiers catch up with them.

Another shout and a second horse is free, this one trampling a couple of soldiers in its efforts to escape the carnage. 

The soldiers have identified the source of the arrows and Rob ducks as one flies passed his ear. He stays down for a few moments, trying to lure the soldiers into a false sense of victory, before he retaliates with three more, feeling a burst of satisfaction as they hit their mark.

He takes a second to glance over his shoulder. There are none of their group left in the stores and Rob allows himself to relax a little – now he just needs to guide them as much as possible to get out of Nottingham and through the gap they created in the city walls.

Another arrow whistles over his head. Shit, the Sheriff’s men are getting better with the aim. They are getting closer, too, so Rob picks up the speed of his arrows, switching to the spare quiver as his supply in the first runs out. 

The Sheriff’s soldiers are closer but Rob is hopeful that he’s giving his men enough time to escape. Taking down several the city soldiers in the process is just an added bonus.

Rob pulls his arm back to release another arrow and agony explodes in his shoulder as one of the soldiers finally gets a hit in. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he grips the end of the arrow and snaps it off. 

He lifts his bow again and pulls the string back, fighting back a yell as he feels the remainder of the arrow scrape against bone. Struggling against the urge to pass out, he tries again. The pain in his shoulder is all-consuming, but Rob knows that he has to continue. With a shout he lets the arrow fly and grabs for another to reload, reminding himself that every arrow is one less soldier he needs to face.

Darkness is creeping along the edge of his vision but Rob forces himself to keep awake just a little longer and lets loose another arrow. This one misses but he reloads anyway. He gets the arrow in place and raises it just in time to come face to face with one of Will’s soldiers.

“Looking for me?” he quips just as something connects with the back of his head and the world goes dark.

*

The first thing Rob is aware of when he comes back to himself is pain. His shoulder is on fire, stretched into an unnatural position. He tries to pull it back but finds that his arms won’t move. This wakes Rob up enough to realise that he is on the floor of the dungeon with his arms locked in chains above his head. He pulls on the chains, causing them to rattle. He stifles a scream as it causes the arrowhead in his shoulder to shift again.

The moment must have alerted someone to his state, because it isn’t long before a familiar face appears at the door of his cell. “Sheriff. Nice of you to make the trip down personally. Though you might be too good for us down here now.” 

Will sneers at him but attempts to cover it up. “You’ve really done it this time, Loxley.”

Rob grins. If Will is down here and angry then Tuck and the others got away with the grain. “You flatter me, really it was a group effort.”

Will’s eyes flash with anger and he storms into the cell. “Where are they?” He demands.

Rob shrugs and winces at the stab of pain it causes. “Who?” 

“Don’t play games with me, Loxley.” Will grabs him by the hair and drags him upright. Rob bites back a scream as the movement jars his injured shoulders, refusing to give Will the satisfaction, and forces himself to meet his gaze.

“Or what? We both know you won’t kill me.” Will can’t risk making him a martyr to the cause. He is already losing his grip on the people, and that might push them over the edge. His position as Sheriff is only at the will of the remaining Lords and they will turn on him the second he no longer serves them any purposes.

Will glares at him and Rob laughs. It is so easy to get under his skin and Rob will take any change he can get. At least this way he can die happy.

“You’re right. But there are other uses for you.” Will takes hold of the arrowhead sticking out Rob’s shoulder and yanks it out. This time Rob does scream as he is thrown back to the floor.

“You bastard.” He grins out as soon as the pain recedes enough for him to think.

Will crouches down next to him and sneers. “If you won’t tell me where they are, I will use you to draw them out.” He reaches over and jabs his thumb against Rob’s shoulder, laughing as Rob screams again. “Perhaps a night in the dungeon will make you ready to talk.”

He stands and walks out of the cell. He pauses at the door. “Don’t make the mistake of confusing me with the last Sheriff. I will not be fooled as easily as he was.

He leaves before Rob has a chance to form a response. The cell door slams closed and he is left alone. It is dark outside but beyond that Rob can’t gauge how long he has been down there, he is assuming it is less than one day. Rob curls up as much as he can around his injured shoulder and tries to conserve his body heat.

*

The throbbing in his shoulder gets steadily worth through the night, and by the time the sun rises and day light streams in through the cell window Rob’s whole arm is a constant mass of pain. He knows from his time in the war that that isn’t a good sign but right now he has no way of trying to treat it.

Will reappears at the entrance, this time with two guards in tow. “Feeling like talking this morning, Loxley?”

“Sure.” Rob coughs as his throat is dry from the night. “Name the topic and we will talk.”

“The location of your merry men?”

Rob snaps his mouth shut and glares up at him. Will give him a couple of moments and then claps his hands together. “No matter.” He nods to the guards. “Bring him.”

The guards march forward and unlock his chains. They each grab an arm to pull him up and Rob yells as it disturb his shoulder. They drag him out of the cell and towards the door to the dungeon. Rob struggles to get his feet underneath him to try and take the weight off his injured shoulder.

As they reach the stairs he briefly manages to get his feet flat but struggles to get his legs to hold him and they collapse beneath him again. The guards march him outside towards the market square. Rob gets suddenly nervous that Will may have decided to kill him after all and weakly pulls against their hold. The guards aren’t swayed and manhandle Rob into the square and up the stairs to the balcony above.

At the top of the stairs, Rob was pulled to the centre of the balcony and ordered to his knees. He hesitates for a moment and one of the guards kick the back of his legs, causing Rob to collapse to his knees. The guards grab his shackled hands and fasten them to the chains hanging from the roofbeams so that they are stretched over his head. 

Once he is secure, the guards leave Rob alone to look across the square. It’s mostly empty save the soldiers guarding the edge, but a few city folk are walking by as they go about their day. People stop and stare as they see him, disbelieving whispers at the sight of the Hood strung up in chains.

“How the mighty have fallen, my _lord_ ,” Will mocks as he joins Rob up on the balcony.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, you are right, I can’t kill you. It will just incite a revolution.” Will bends down to look him in the eye. “And you are too honourable to tell me where your men are hiding or where my food is hidden. Aren’t you?”

“It’s not yours.” Rob spat. “The people are starving. What happened to you, Will? You used to be a good man.”

“You did!” Will snapped. “Everything was just fine before you came along.”

“As you said.” Rob grits out. “Marion is her own woman.”

Will hits harder than Rob expects. The force knocks him to the side, leaving him hanging from the chains.

“If you won’t tell me where your men are, then I will just get them to come to me by offering them you.”

Shit. Rob calls his bluff. “They won’t fall for that, they won’t come for me.”

“They will, and then my soldiers will arrest the lot of them.”

Robs darts forward but the chains hold him fast. Will laughs and pats with his cheek. “You just wait there. If you survive the shoulder wound then I will let you watch as I crush your rebellion by executing every last one of them.” He saunters off, laughing to himself as he leaves the balcony and heads back to across the market square.

It’s cold outside but the heat in Rob’s wound is spreading and he is sweating. He finds himself drifting in and out of consciousness, sagging against the chains as he can no longer separate the pain at the wound site from the pain in the rest of his body. He hopes that the others have enough sense to stay away, at least until this wound does him in and he isn’t worth using as bait anymore.

The sun rises further over the square and more people gather. Rob is vaguely aware of the rest of the Lords congregating on the balcony, a despicable group that he is glad he no longer has to pretend to enjoy the company of. The commoners start to gather in the market square.

Will comes up behind him and addresses the crowd, rattling Rob’s chains. “Behold! Robin of Loxley, caught stealing from Nottingham’s food stores. This man would see you all starve.” 

There is a murmur in the crowd and Rob groans. They really believe this rubbish that Will is spouting. The Sheriff and the Lords take most of the food produced by the city’s people for their lavish winter feasts and yet lay the blame at Rob’s feet for taking a few bags of grain. And the crowds were falling for it.

“Our loyal soldiers have apprehended the thief and protected the city.” No mention of the food they did run off with then, Rob thinks as the crowd cheer for Will. “But he did not act along. I am offering a reward of £1000 for the capture of any of Robin’s men – ”

Suddenly there is an explosion and all hell breaks loose. Rob can see shooting and fighting and Will yelling at the soldiers but he’s struggling to stay conscious and follow what was going on.

A hand slaps against his uninjured shoulder and he tries to pull away. “You look like shit, English. Worse than the day we met even.”

“Can always rely on you to make me feel better.” Rob laughs and then coughs, wincing as pain ripples throughout his body. “Stupid move, they were using me as bait.”

“You took on the whole army by yourself, and lost, and we are the stupid ones?” Tuck adds before he gets as good look at Rob. “Come on, let’s get you back home.”

John and Tuck remove the chains and Rob collapses forward into their arms. “Give me a bow.”

“No.”

“I can fight.”

“You can’t even stand.” John puts an arm around his shoulders. “You trained your men well, they can handle this. Do you trust me, English?”

“With my life.” Without hesitation – John had always been there for him and Rob has no reason to doubt him.

“Good.”

One hard shove and Rob finds himself smashing through the railings and flying through the air. There isn’t enough air in his lungs to scream before his body lands in the back of a horse cart. A second later the cart jolts as John lands behind him. 

John shouts something and the cart starts to move. The last reserves of Rob’s energy drain away and he loses the battle to stay awake.

The next thing he remembers is a hand wiping his brow. “You’re safe now, English.” John tells him as he wipes a cloth across Rob’s face. “You’re back in the woods and Tuck has patched up your wound.”

“The others?” Rob croaks. 

“Everyone made it out. Now you just need to rest and regain your strength. Sleep, English. Then we all have work to do.” 

The words calmed him. Safe in the knowledge that they would have food for their people and are out of immediate danger for the time being, Rob lets his eyes slide shut again.


End file.
